VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
by John L. Allen Jr. | Mar. 1, 2013
Rome —
We now know that the first meeting of the General Congregation, which brings together all the cardinals during the run-up to the conclave, is set for 9:30 a.m. Monday in Rome. In a break with practice from the last time around, the cardinals will also go back into the General Congregation on Monday afternoon.
The sessions will be held in the Vatican’s synod hall, where meetings of synods of bishops take place. Among other things, it’s among the few Vatican venues properly equipped to provide simultaneous translation.
(Another is the Vatican Press Office, but it’s probably unlikely the cardinals would choose to do the heavy lifting in full public view.)
As a reminder, all the cardinals are eligible to participate in the General Congregation meetings, not just the 115 under 80 who will actually cast ballots in the conclave. At the moment, there are a total of 207 cardinals, after the death Thursday of French Cardinal Jean Marcel Honoré at 92. Not all 207, however, will participate in the General Congregations; we’ll know Monday how many actually showed up.
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